Potential Infinity
by Sidalee
Summary: There's no such thing as a dull moment in the McGarrett household.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Another sidestory to my other fics, _Losing you is never an option_ and_ Operation: Stork_. I'm working on like four different stories at the same time so there will be a lot of updates from me in the next few days. I hope you don't mind.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Steve is speeding down on the streets while gripping the wheel tightly, swearing quietly to himself.<p>

"You know that you are bleeding, right?" Danny says beside him.

Steve just grunts.

"I mean," Danny tries again, but trails off; somehow he can't find the right words. "Do you think it's a good idea to barge into there looking like an extra from an action movie?"

"Danny…" Steve's voice is tense and the warning in it is crystal clear even for him.

"Okay, okay." Danny puts up his hands in surrender. "But please remember that I tried to warn you when they kick our collective asses out."

"Noted." Steve grumbles.

They arrive to the parking lot and notice that Chin and Kono are already there. Steve takes a look at them but before he can say anything Sid's loud voice fills the silence.

"Finally!" She shouts while approaching them. "Where the hell have you…the fuck happened to you?"

"Busy day." Kono drawls, shooting a glare at her friend.

"There was a massacre or what?" Sid sweeps her eyes over them.

Steve's right arm is bleeding where the bullet grazed the skin, Kono has a cut over her left eyebrow and a black eye is starting to form on the same side. Chin and Danny just look disheveled and dirty all over.

"Like the Four fucking Horsemen of Apocalypse." Sid grumbles.

"Really?" Danny finally snaps. "That's rich coming from you, Miss Rambo. If I remember correctly we weren't the ones who arrived to their own wedding cuffed to a perp."

"First," Sid whirls towards his direction, pointing a threatening finger at him. "It's Mrs. Rambo, thank you very much. And second, we should go in. It's already started."

They sneak into the room as quietly as they can and stand at the far end of the auditorium but they still earn a few disapproving looks from the people around.

Steve doesn't pay any attention to them, he just stares at the stage and when his gaze meets JD's and a big grin breaks out on his son's face all of the day's troubles just melt away.

.

.

This is one of the rare mornings when he is totally alone with JD. Kono is spending her well earned alone time down by the beach and it's his duty to make their son some breakfast.

"I want pancakes." JD repeats stubbornly. "Blueberry pancakes."

"No." Steve tries to stare him down. It's funny that it doesn't work on him at all.

"Why?"

"Because it's not healthy." He offers.

"Why?" God. He has to keep JD away from Danny from now on.

"Because too much sugar will kill you before you turn thirty." Steve sighs.

"That's not true."

"What?" Seriously, this kid is too stubborn for his own good.

"Uncle Danny is like forty and he eats unhealthy things all the time." JD grins at him like he already won the argument. Which is true. Sort of.

"Uncle Danny is a lucky guy." And so fucking dead, he adds inwardly.

"So, pancakes." His son looks at him expectantly, his little feet dangling from the barstool.

"Let's make a deal, buddy." Steve tries his best to look authoritative. "You can have pancakes twice a week but you have to eat your cereals on the other days without complaining."

"Okay." JD nods seriously.

Steve lets out a relieved sigh. He swears that his son sometimes more difficult than any hostage situation he came across through the years.

.

.

Steve wakes up to the noise of the bedroom door creaking open and he can hear the tiny footsteps as they approach the bed.

He keeps his eyes closed, as JD not so stealthily climbs over him and plops down on the narrow empty space between him and Kono.

"Hey there, sis." Steve hears JD whisper and he opens his eyes slightly.

His son is sitting Indian style with his back towards him and he speaks directly to Kono's baby bump, leaning close to it.

"You should come out soon." JD continues. "I bet you are totally bored and stuff in there."

Steve stifles the laugh that threatens to burst out and he shifts his gaze towards Kono instead. He finds her awake; her big brown eyes shining with unshed tears. They could blame it on the hormones later but he has a lump in his throat too when he thinks about how ridiculously awesome their kid is.

"You can come out, you know." JD's voice is barely above a whisper now. "I'm gonna protect you, like Daddy does with Mommy."

Fuck, now Steve is having a hard time not to burst into tears like a total pansy.

.

.

"McGarrett!" Sid's furious voice fills the lanai.

Steve shoots a questioning look towards Holden who just shrugs and flips the steak. Sometimes it's nice to have a similarly stoic friend but it's not one of those days because an angry Sid is not a pretty sight.

"Yes?" He manages to make it sound like a question not a pained groan.

"Could you tell your bloody offspring not to harass my daughter?" Sid halts before him with murder in her eyes.

"What did he do this time?" Steve rakes his fingers through his hair.

"He keeps pushing her into the pool." Sid huffs. "I swear if she drowns I'm gonna go all Death Star on your ass."

See? She's so sophisticated it brings tears into his eyes every time.

"Oh, come on, baby." Holden laughs. "Don't tell me you didn't notice what's going on."

"What?" Sid and Steve say in unison and turn towards him, confusion clear on their faces.

"JD has a crush on Lea." Holden grins at them. "I have to say, your son has an excellent taste in women."

"Oh, no." Sid starts to shake her head wildly. "No no no. No freakin' way. Over my dead body."

"Hey." Steve glares at her, offended. "What's your problem with my son?"

"What's my…" Sid trails off, too worked up to form coherent words.

"Don't listen to her, bro." Holden shrugs. "You have a pretty badass kid."

"Shut it, Wolfe." Sid turns her murderous gaze towards her husband. "Can you imagine our grandchildren? They would be like the X-men or something. Totally mutant with all the inherited crazy genes."

"You are batshit, woman." Holden laughs at his wife. "They are six years old. Stop envisioning the end of the world."

Steve just stands there, staring at them silently and he is certain that he sprouted a few gray hairs over the image of said grandchildren already.

.

.

Kono lets out a low moan as Steve's teeth graze her collarbone and lifts her leg higher on his hip. The angle is just plain perfect and his steady thrusts are getting her higher and higher so she sinks her nails into the hot skin of his back and prepares to let go when…

"Mommy." JD's tiny voice is heard from the doorway.

Steve freezes above her and she can feel the pleasure rapidly drifting away as he lifts himself up.

"Fuck." Steve murmurs with feeling.

"What's wrong, JD?" Kono sits up in the bed, pulling the covers closer to her naked body.

"I heard weird noises." Their son says and Kono can't help the blush that heats up her cheeks. God, she hopes they didn't scar him for life.

"It's okay, sweetie." She gets up and wraps the sheets around herself. "It must be from the fever. Go back to sleep."

"Tuck me in?" JD asks in a small noise.

"Sure." She takes his hand. "Come on, let Daddy go back to sleep or he'll be all grumpy tomorrow morning. And you know what that means, right?"

"No pancakes." JD sighs.

"No pancakes." Kono repeats with a laugh and leads him out of their bedroom.

Twenty minutes later she's back in the bed, covering both of them with the stolen sheet.

"Are you sure that JD isn't Danny's kid?" Steve grumbles and pulls her closer. "The kid has the worst timing ever."

"He's just sick." Kono swats at his chest with a laugh.

"You took the sheets." Steve murmurs against her neck. "I was cold."

"Want me to warm you up?" Kono whispers seductively.

"I thought you'd never ask."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** You guys are seriously awesome! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews, you made my cold little heart all warm and fuzzy. So I decided to turn this into an on-going story, I hope you don't mind. And feel free to send me ideas, prompts or whatevers if you have something you wanna see/read in this universe.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Steve tries not to make too much noise as he walks into the house but it's kind of difficult because it's dark and he's limping a little so in the end he walks into the coffee table as a pro.<p>

He plops down on the couch heavily and hopes that he isn't bleeding because Kono's going to murder him if he leaves any permanent stain. He leans his head back and he feels the dull pain turning into some serious throbbing and he can't remember when he got punched in the face but it feels like his worst four hangovers in one package.

"Daddy?" JD's quiet voice almost makes him jump.

"Hey, buddy." Steve flips the lamp beside the couch on.

"Oof." JD says when he takes a good look at him.

"Something like that." Steve tries to flash a reassuring smile but it hurts too much. "Why aren't you sleeping?"

"Mommy couldn't sleep because Hana was tossing around in her tummy and I told her a story so they are asleep now and I was on my way to my room when I heard you." JD shrugs, still eyeing his father's bruised face. "You were very loud."

"Sorry, buddy." Steve looks at him. "Go to sleep. It's very late."

"Are you okay?" JD points at his face.

"I'm fine." Steve finally gathers enough strength to get up from the couch. "I'm going to take a shower now. Seriously, JD, go to bed."

"Okay." His son eyes him skeptically. The kid is like a mini Kono sometimes. Well, mostly when Steve tries bullshitting him.

He stands under the spray more than four minutes but hey, he's pretty banged up, so he deserves the luxury of ten minutes of hot water.

He steps into JD's room before going to bed like he does every night and he finds him sitting on the bed, waiting for him.

"What's wrong?" He asks and JD motions him to sit down.

He tries to find a comfortable position on the narrow bed and finally settles down with his back pressed against the wall and he starts to panic a little when JD crawls into his lap.

Steve is in the middle of opening his mouth to ask what's wrong when he feels the icepack against the bruised side of his face.

"Thanks, buddy." He murmurs quietly into JD's ear and he pulls him into a one armed hug.

They are sitting there like that for a while now when Steve hears a sniffling sound so he looks up over his son's head and he finds Kono standing in the doorway with one hand on her heavily pregnant stomach and wiping away the tears with the other.

He shoots her a proud grin and his hold tightens slightly on his son. Yeah, their kid is pretty much made of awesome.

.

.

"How much longer?" JD looks at Danny impatiently.

"I don't know." Danny sighs. God, this kid is as stubborn as his parents. "Sometimes it takes a lot of time for a baby to arrive."

"Why?"

"Because she's gonna be a pain in the ass just like you." Sid offers helpfully, shrugging off Danny's dirty look.

"I was this lazy too?" JD turns towards Sid.

"Well…" Sid trails off, remembering the day when he was born. "Sort of."

"Don't worry, your timing was perfect." Danny pats his shoulder.

"Why?" JD is certain that they don't want to tell him something important.

"Let's just say that you were almost born on a backseat of a motorbike." Danny grins at him.

"Really?" JD perks up. "Cool."

"Daniel." Sid growls beside him. "Nicht vor den Kindern."

"What?" Danny's eyebrows almost touch his hairline. "Are you trash talking me in an alien language or what?"

"It's German you uneducated mammal." Sid rolls her eyes. "It means, shut it!"

"Why don't you want Uncle Danny to tell me?"

"Because you are a midget and I'll tell you when you are old enough." Sid huffs while she murders Danny in ten different but equally slow and painful ways in her head.

"Please." JD looks at her with big blue eyes. "Please, Auntie Sid."

"What did I tell you about calling me Auntie?" She throws a halfhearted glare at him.

"That you are not a crazy old lady with a dozen cats, so if I ever want you to buy me shaved ice again, I won't call you that." JD recites.

"See? You are a smart little guy."

"Are you gonna tell me?" Sid wants to bang her head or Danny's head into the wall of the hospital's corridor. That's what happens when the two most stubborn people in the world go crazy and make a child together.

Luckily Steve chooses this moment to burst out of the delivery room to announce the arrival of the newest addition to the McGarrett Asylum.

"Kyre, eleison!" She mutters in a low voice but Danny looks at her suspiciously nonetheless.

.

.

Three hours. Three fucking hours have passed since someone kidnapped his son and Steve's breaking point is approaching in lightspeed.

"Found him." Chin shouts from his place next to the high-tech table. "Sending the address to your phone."

Steve looks around for Kono but she's nowhere in sight and he has a sneaking suspicion that she's in the storage room, looking for a big enough Kevlar that fits her eight months pregnant form. She's out of her fucking mind if she thinks that he lets her to come with him.

He finds her exactly there and he steps behind her, stilling her hand on the self with his.

"Chin found him." He murmurs quietly into her ear, pressing his body close to hers, offering some comfort.

Kono goes alarmingly still then lets out a shuddering breath.

"No." He says in his most stern voice, tightening his fingers around hers. As their wedding rings grind together somehow he doesn't feel like he's going to fall apart at the seams anymore. "You can't come."

"But…" She tries to argue because she's just like that.

"Listen to me." He knows that he's a total jerk right now but he needs to know that at least she's in a safe place. "I want you to stay here with Chin, okay? And it wasn't a request."

Kono turns around and she looks into his eyes and it kills him seeing her this shaken but fuck, he feels shaken too.

"Bring him home, Steve." She whispers and presses a firm kiss on his lips.

He's in the parking lot, running his options through his head because he has to do this alone. Danny is in the hospital because that asshole who kidnapped JD knocked Grace out and almost broke her arm because she fought back pretty hard. The girl is just as loyal as her dad.

Steve turns towards the street when he hears a car approaching in high speed and he can't help the grin when he spots the black Honda.

"Alone?" He raises a brow at Holden when he gets out of the car.

"Sid is on the other end of the island but she threatened to show up if we can send her an address."

"Let's go." Steve nods.

Forty-seven minutes later he holds JD close to his body and he knows that he must be suffocating him but he just can't will himself to let go or even loosen his hold on him.

He looks at the direction of Holden and Sid and he almost laughs at the vain attempt of the marine to hold his wife back while Sid shouts at the cuffed kidnapper that she's going to carve out his heart with the dullest teaspoon she can find.

Kono almost knocks him on his ass as she crashes into them, crying openly in relief. JD, a true McGarrett, hugs her back and whispers, it's okay, don't cry, it's okay until she calms down.

Steve just stands there and holds onto them tightly.

.

.

Kono walks into the house and she feels alarmed on instant. The whole place is too quiet and you learn that it's never a good sign when you have a husband, two kids and a dog. She draws out her gun as she sneaks towards the living room because even if she's on a maternity leave she's still a cop.

The picture that finds her in the room makes her smile and lower her gun.

Steve lies on the couch with a fast asleep Hana on his chest and he has a protective hand on their daughter's back. JD's head is on his father's thigh, his mouth is half open and he's still holding the Xbox controller in his hand while dozing in the hot summer afternoon.

Her eyes falls on CHiPs, thank you Chin for babysitting JD and showing him that ancient TV show every time he's over, so this ridiculous name would come to her son's mind firstly when they buy him a pet, and it looks like the weather affected him too because the big black dog lies silently before the couch, not even bothering to lift his head when she steps into the living room.

Steve opens his eyes, leave it to the super SEAL to be the only one to notice her arrival, and arches a questioning brow at her when he sees the lowered gun.

Kono just shrugs as an answer and starts to walk towards the couch.

"Is there any room for me?" She asks with a warm smile.

"Always." Steve smiles back and scoots over, waking everyone in the process.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Hey, guys! It's been a while since I updated this story but I took me a lot of time to come up with these scenes. Yeah, it's clear that I'm not around kids much.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Steve tries to pinpoint when was the last time he felt that uncomfortable as he shifts his weight from one foot to another, sinking his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants.<p>

Maybe when he met Kono's parents for the first time. Her mother made the shotgun holding Chin look harmless that day. And no, he doesn't exaggerate.

He thinks that maybe it would have been wiser to leave the thigh holster and his gun in the car but he was already running late and when did he start to care about making a good impression anyway.

Kono nudges his side with her elbow, fixing him with a pointed glare so he stops fidgeting.

"Mr. and Mrs. McGarrett." The woman, what's her name again, gives them a practiced warm smile from behind her desk, motioning them to sit down. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Funny, but her tone tells an entirely different story.

"Miss Reiker." Kono takes one of the chairs with an equally fake smile.

"Is something wrong with JD?" Steve asks because you know, he's everything but good at pointless polite chatting.

"No, Mr. McGarrett." The teacher shakes her head. "He's a very good child, smart and diligent too."

"Then what are we doing here exactly?" Steve stands behind Kono's chair, folding his arms across his chest.

"Steve." Kono chides him in a low voice.

"Don't worry, Mrs. McGarrett." Miss Reiker lets out a small genuine laugh. "I'm surrounded by impatient little men all day. I think I can handle another one."

Wait; did she just call him a child?

"I called you here because we need to talk about JD's overactive imagination." The teacher turns serious.

"I'm sorry, what?" Steve looks at her confused.

"I'm aware of your professions and I know that JD was kidnapped once," Miss Reiker explains. "But he keeps telling stories to the other children that are very uh, disturbing."

"I'm not sure I'm following you." Kono says in a clipped voice.

"For example he told his classmates that you, Mr. McGarrett, have a habit of hanging uncooperative suspects off rooftops." Miss Reiker says casually. "Or that you, Mrs. McGarrett, participated in a chase while you were in labor with him on a backseat of a motorcycle."

Steve and Kono share a disbelieving look.

"I'm so sorry, Miss Reiker." Kono apologizes. "He must have overheard us talking about cases and he just bent them a little."

"I understand that, Mrs. McGarrett." The teacher nods. "It's not a bad thing if a child has a vivid imagination but sometimes JD scares the others with his stories."

"We are going to talk to him." Kono promises.

"Good." Miss Reiker flashes another fake smile. "Thank you for coming."

Kono gets up from her seat and Steve takes a step back, ready to leave.

"Oh, and Mr. McGarrett." Miss Reiker calls after him. "Would you be so kind and leave your gun outside next time?"

"Yeah, sure." Steve mumbles, feeling ten years old again. "Um, sorry for that."

They pretty much flee from the classroom.

Outside the school Kono turns towards him with a furious expression.

"I'm going to skin Sid alive." She rages. "You can have Danny."

"Okay." Steve shrugs nonchalantly.

"Why aren't you pissed?" Kono glares at him suspiciously.

"Come on, Kono." Steve laughs. "Every kid likes to brag. At least JD was telling the truth."

"You are so not funny." Kono crosses her arms over her chest, huffing in annoyance.

"That's not true. I'm hilarious." Steve pulls her into his arms, pecking her on the lips playfully. "And I kind of liked how she called you Mrs. McGarrett. It's quite catchy."

"Oh, don't you dare." She glares at him menacingly.

"Whatever you say," Steve opens the pickup's door with a grin. "Mrs. McGarrett."

.

.

Steve hates the mall with burning passion but guess what, he still stands at the entrance of that hellhole with Hana and JD on that too warm Saturday afternoon.

The thing with taking kids shopping is that they walk slow and they don't have the slightest idea about what the hell they want to get Kono for Mother's Day.

Steve swears that he solved cases faster than that.

Hana finally halts before a jewelry store, pressing her little palms against the glass wall with an excited expression on her face.

He ushers them inside before the clerk decides to make him clean the handprints.

"I think Mommy would like this." Hana points at the silver bracelet.

It's simple yet very pretty with little charms hanging from it. She's right, Kono would love this.

"Let me see." JD insists, stepping beside his sister.

Hana holds up the bracelet and JD looks at it like he's an expert or something and Steve just stands there watching them because they are kind of hilarious when they are actually getting along.

"I like it." JD nods eventually.

"Should we get it?" Steve asks, hoping that they say yes because he's fading fast and he just wants to get the hell out of there, go home and crawl into bed with his wife.

Maybe it's not too much to ask for a Saturday night.

Hana nods but JD is still eyeing the bracelet thoughtfully.

"We should buy more charms." He says.

"What do you have in mind, buddy?" Steve asks.

JD picks up three charms and holds them out for him. They are their initials. God, his kid is a genius.

He pays for the bracelet and Hana asks the clerk to wrap it up nicely because it's for their mother so the woman ads a little gift tag to it.

"What's that for?" Hana asks.

"You can write who it's for on it." The clerk explains with a smile.

"Can I?" JD asks tentatively looking at Steve.

"Here you go." Steve says, picking up a pen from the counter and handing it to JD.

He watches as his son fills out the tag on his own, writing their names with loopy cursive.

"We should write 'I love you' too." Hana says seriously.

Steve thinks about Kono, opening her gifts tomorrow, seeing the bracelet and the little blue and white 'Gone surfing' sign the kids made themselves for her and he knows that she's going to cry. Like she doesn't deserve them or something and Steve thinks she's totally crazy for thinking like that because she does. Actually she deserves more. She deserves everything.

He honestly thinks that the best part of the gift will be this little card.

"We love you." Steve says, nudging JD's shoulder. His son looks up at him and Hana smiles. "Write we love you."

.

.

Steve knew that this was a bad idea from the start. But now as he's standing on the beach a dozen feet away from them he thinks it's the worst idea ever. And it's still an understatement.

The thing is that Kono offered JD's classmates free surfing lessons on her day offs, which isn't the problem.

The problem is the guy, that fucking disrespectful asshole, who keeps looking at his wife like he wants to devour her. Another single father, Steve guesses.

It doesn't help that Kono is wearing a ridiculously small teal bikini, her body is still tight and smoking hot and no one could tell that she has two kids already.

There are days when he fucking hates that they are not wearing wedding rings. This is totally one of them.

Steve grits his teeth, clenching his hands into tight fist at his side and he seriously considers going over and beat the shit out of the guy, not caring about the ten year olds that surrounds Kono.

"Don't." Danny says beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving. "You have no self-control, my friend."

"I have a lot of self-control, Danny." Steve pretty much growls. "I have so much I'm standing here right now absolutely stunned over it actually."

"Sure." Danny huffs like he doesn't believe him.

"I'm still not murdering the guy, right?" Steve glares at him.

"I don't think you need to interfere." Danny points towards Kono with a grin.

Steve notices JD, standing a few feet away from his mother, eyeing the guy suspiciously. He watches his son with interest as he walks up to Kono and the asshole, his surfboard under his arm and when the guy finally works up enough courage to touch her JD turns sideways, hitting the creep's knee hard with the edge of the board. Then he does it again when he turns back towards his mother with an innocently blank expression on his face.

"Oof." Danny laughs. "Seriously your kid scares me sometimes."

Steve doesn't even try to hide his proud grin.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N: **Thank you for your reviews and all the alerts and favs. You are way too awesome!

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>Steve tosses and turns in his bed for like the hundredth time but he can't seem to find a comfortable position. In the end he gives up on falling asleep altogether, staring at the ceiling instead, letting out a heavy sigh.<p>

It feels ridiculous that he can't sleep without her next to him but this is what exactly happening and he has a hard time to remember when was the last time he spent the night alone. He doesn't even know what is he doing at home anyway when she is still at the hospital, recovering from being shot and he wants nothing more than sitting by her bed, watching over her.

But he has other responsibilities, namely Hana and JD, so Kono pretty much threw him out of her room earlier this day, ordering him to go home and spend some time with their kids because this is what they need. She is right, of course, not that he admits it aloud but that doesn't mean he can relax and catch some sleep.

Suddenly he hears noises from the hallway, footsteps then a hushed conversation and it becomes clear to him that he's not the only insomniac in the house tonight. The door creaks open slowly a few minutes later and the bed dips under the kids' weight.

"Are you sleeping?" Hana whispers, nudging his side lightly.

"No." Steve answers, lifting the covers up to let her dive under it and snuggle against his side. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"She misses Mom." JD offers helpfully, lying down on Kono's side of the bed, hugging her pillow to his chest.

"I miss her too." Steve admits, smoothing back his daughter's hair, tugging it behind her ear.

"JD misses her too, but he doesn't want to admit it." Hana mumbles, her little fingers fisting around his t-shirt.

"It's okay." Steve reassures them. "She misses you guys too, I'm sure of that."

"What if she is awake too?" Hana asks worriedly. "And she's all alone."

"We should go to see her." JD says, sitting up in the bed. "Can we, Dad?"

Steve stares at his kids and he has a sneaking suspicion that they are playing him but who cares really when he wished he was next to her all night anyway.

"Okay." He agrees. "Go, puts some clothes on."

The night shift nurse just shakes her head with a fond smile when she sees them.

Kono is asleep when they enter her room but the kids don't care. JD climbs on the chair next to her bed, laying his torso beside his mother and falling asleep on instant with his hand covering hers.

Hana waits for Steve to bring another chair to the other side of the bed and crawls into his lap, her eyes never leaving Kono.

"Thank you, Daddy." She whispers sleepily, pressing a soft kiss against his cheek then resting her head on his chest and she is asleep too a few minutes later.

Steve tries to find a comfortable position, hugging Hana close with one hand while touching Kono's fingers with the other.

He listens to their steady breathing, the only sounds in the room suddenly feeling bone deep tired and he hopes that Kono won't be too mad in the morning, it's not his fault really that their kids are professional manipulators.

.

.

"Uncle Chin?" JD turns towards him with a serious expression.

"Yes?" Chin shifts his gaze from the lake to his nephew.

"What's wrong with being barefoot?" JD asks, fumbling with his fishing rod.

"Barefoot?" Chin looks at him confused. "There's nothing wrong with that. Why?"

"Then why Mom gets annoyed every time Uncle Danny says that Dad likes to keep her barefoot and pregnant?"

"Oh." That's all Chin can say, standing there totally clueless about what to answer.

Until this moment Chin didn't know why Danny refused to babysit JD and Hana. He thought that taking the kids fishing with Malia was a great idea and on top of that Steve and Kono finally had some well earned alone time now that she is pregnant again.

"All Uncle Danny meant was that your Dad likes it when your Mom is pregnant because she is more careful that way." He says after thinking it through.

"Where do babies come from Uncle Chin?" Hana chimes in and he can hear Malia's quiet laugh.

"Well, the stork brings them." Chin smiles at his little niece.

"But there are no storks in Hawaii." Hana looks horrified. "What if the stork doesn't know where we live and he brings the baby to the mainland."

"Don't be a goof, Hana." JD chides his sister with a huff. "Babies are from the hospital where Auntie Malia works, right?"

"Right." Malia nods with a smile so Hana calms down a little.

Chin lets out a small, relieved breath when no other question comes. He's back at teaching JD how to use the fishing rod correctly and Malia plays with Hana a little farther in the shallow water.

"What does castration mean?" JD asks out of the blue, looking thoughtful.

"What?" Chin can't believe that this is really happening. He has a suspicion that Danny or Sid convinced the kids to play uncomfortable twenty questions with him.

"I heard Mom tell Dad, that after Ian is born she's gonna castrate him." JD blinks up at him. "Is it something painful, 'cause Dad looked a little freaked out."

"I'm sure your mother was joking." Chin reassures him.

He seriously needs to have a talk with Steve and Kono about appropriate conversations before their children.

.

.

Steve feels awful which is not a common thing for him but he's having a pretty high fever and horrible wet coughs are wrecking his body in every ten minutes.

His mood doesn't lift when Kono walks into their bedroom, placing a tray packed with food and medicines on the bedside table.

"You sure you don't want me to stay?" She asks, pressing her cool palm against his forehead.

"Nah." He croaks. "You should go with the kids and have fun, it's Halloween after all."

"I can ask Sid and Holden to take them." She offers.

"I'll be fine." He says but then he notices her costume. "What the hell are you wearing?"

Kono straightens her posture, twirling around. She's wearing skin-tight leggings and a leather vest which shows too much of her skin for his liking.

"This is a sci-fi pirate costume from Hana's favorite TV show." Kono explains, eyeballing him suspiciously. "Do you have a problem with that?"

Steve really wants to say that he fucking has at least a dozen problems with that but the kids burst into the bedroom almost vibrating with excitement.

Hana wears a smiliar but thankfully more PG rated ensemble as Kono and JD is dressed in cargo pants and Kevlar vest. Steve can't help but feels smug because most of the kids at JD's age are dressing up as their favorite superheroes. For JD it's him. He thinks he has the best kid ever.

"Mom, we're gonna be late." JD shoots his mother a disapproving look.

"I'm sorry you are sick." Hana walks up to Steve.

"Me too, sweetheart." Steve smiles at his daughter. "Have fun."

"Okay." Hana nods seriously and puts something down on his pillow.

It's her favorite toy, Danno, a stuffed cheery orange pineapple. It was a present from Sid and it never fails to rail Danny up every time he sees it. It's kind of hilarious to watch.

"Thanks." Steve says then looks at JD. "Take care of your mother and sister."

JD sweeps his eyes over her mother; his expression darkens a little before turning his gaze towards his father.

"Don't worry Dad, I'm gonna shoot anyone who looks at them funny."

Kono throws Steve a resentful look while ushering the kids out of the bedroom.

"You lucky we only bought him a nerf gun." She throws back over her shoulder. "I'm not going to apologize if he hurts someone. Again."

Steve snorts and pulls the covers higher. He's glad that even if JD looks like more a mini Kono, at least he inherited the McGarrett protectiveness.

In his book all is fair in scaring away assholes from hitting on his wife.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Hey guys! Oh god, it's been a while…I feel so rusty. I hope this chapter is still enjoyable. I blame every crazy thing on the extreme heat. It boiled my brain.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>They have the afternoon off and Kono is more than glad because the weather is too hot and she feels too pregnant already. She's sitting with Sid, waiting for their husbands and Danny to get the biggest cups of shave ice the place has when an unfamiliar woman stops by their table.<p>

It turns out that she's working with Sid and they engage in polite small talk and Kono can't help but notice that the woman keeps looking over at her smiling. It feels a little creepy and she shifts in her seat, glancing at Steve's direction but he's occupied with paying and balancing the cups in one hand so he can't come to her rescue.

"I'm sorry," the woman tells her after a moment, still smiling. "But you're absolutely glowing. When are you due?"

Kono thinks that she looks like more of a sweaty whale than a glowing…whatever, but she still manages a tight and polite smile when she answers.

"Two and a half months."

Finally the boys arrive back and she'd never been more grateful to see them. She doesn't know why but this woman makes her itchy with that longing glint in her eye and Kono's already overly cranky today to have appropriate conversations with desperate single women.

"Oh, that sounds lovely." She sweeps her eyes over the three men. "Which one of you is the father?"

Steve opens his mouth to stake the claim, but before he can say anything Kono lets out a dramatic sigh.

"God, I wish I knew, but damn, we were so drunk that night." She bats her lashes innocently at the others. "Any ideas?"

"Nope." Sid shakes her head with a sad expression. "It's a shame really, it must have been a spectacular fuck. I never gonna drink tequila again."

Danny makes a choking sound beside her, eyes bugging with outrage and Steve wears his trademark aneurysm face, placing his hand over her knee under the table and squeezing it warningly.

God, they have no sense of humor at all.

"It could be either of us. I think we all..." Holden wonders aloud, his eyes dancing with mirth when his gaze meets Kono's.

"I remember all of you were inside of me at one time," Kono muses, looking thoughtful while she completely ignores Steve's death-grip on her knee. "I just can't remember who came in through the…you know, uh, the other way."

"Actually, I think that might have been me," Sid confesses with a fake sheepish look.

"Oh," Kono shrugs. "Well, that wasn't really helpful, was it?"

"I think we just have to wait for him to come out." Holden offers. "If he has blonde hair than it's Danny."

"Stop!" Steve and Danny shout in perfect sync. It's quite amusing.

The woman looks truly horrified. She opens her mouth to say something but she changes her mind and takes off without a word or a backward glance.

Kono and Sid burst out laughing a moment later and Holden joins them when he looks at Steve and Danny's faces.

"Are you done?" Danny shoots a resentful look at their direction.

"Are we?" Sid asks the still laughing Kono, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.

Kono considers this for a second, glancing at Steve, who looks everything but amused, then she nods. "Yeah, I think we're done."

"Steven, I want a transfer." Danny whines and he looks like he wants to drown in his shave ice or stab himself in the eye with the plastic spoon.

"Me too, Danno. Me too." Steve sighs, shaking his head.

.

.

They are having their weekly family breakfast on the lanai with Mary Ann, Danny and Chin when Hana suddenly speaks up.

"Daddy, did you marry Mommy because you kissed her?" She asks seriously, looking at Steve expectantly.

"Um, what?" He glances down at his daughter, who's sitting on his lap, waiting for an answer and another bite of pancake.

"Yes, he did." Kono comes to his help, placing her hand over his on the table, squeezing his fingers lightly with an amused expression.

"So, when you kiss someone you have to marry him?" Hana looks confused.

"Did someone kiss you, sweetheart?" Steve asks suspiciously, his expression darkening at the thought of some kid touching his four-year-old little girl.

"Oh, this is good." Danny gloats cheerfully from the other side of the table, earning a swat on the chest from Mary Ann. "What? He always said I was overprotective and ridiculous when it happened to Grace."

"Ew, no." Hana shakes her head, turning back to her food without saying anything else.

Steve shoots a helpless questioning look at Kono who just shrugs back because she has no idea either.

"Can I be your flower girl, Auntie Mare?" Hana asks tentatively.

Everyone at the table expect JD and Hana freeze.

Steve's grip tightens on the knife he's holding and Kono looks at him worriedly, totally missing the panicked expression on Mary's face. Danny fidgets nervously in his seat because he knows Steve's gonna blow up in any minute while Chin just leans back, watching the scene with interest.

"Mare?" Steve asks in a low voice, his brows furrowing.

"Steve." Mary Ann deadpans, not looking up from her plate.

"Do you want to share?" He says in a clipped tone, trying to stay calm.

"No?" His sister shrugs.

"I see." Steve grunts. "Who kissed Aunt Mare, Hana?"

"Steve!" Kono kicks him under the table subtly.

"No, I won't tell." Hana shakes her head wildly. "You're gonna hurt him and he's not gonna marry Auntie Mare."

"I'm not gonna hurt him." Steve tries to sound convincing.

"You are lying. You have that face." Hana crosses her little arms over her chest in a true McGarrett fashion, staring at her father unblinkingly.

"What face?"

"The one Uncle Danny calls, uh, anu – anurism…um…"

"Aneurysm." Chin helps her out with a small laugh.

"That's it." She nods, satisfied. "Thank you, Uncle Chin."

"Come on, sweetheart." Steve cajoles his daughter in a gentle tone. "I promise I'll be good."

"Oh, for God's sake!" JD bursts out suddenly, slamming his fork down. "Aunt Mare's been dating Uncle Danny for like a year."

"What?"

"JD!"

"Oh, shit!"

"Danny?" Steve asks in an eerie calm voice, turning towards his friend while lifting Hana off his lap.

"Steven." Danny pushes his chair back with a panicked expression, ready to run for his life if necessary.

"Steve!" Kono hisses, leaning forward to put a restraining hand on her husband's arm but he's already out of his seat and she's too pregnant to follow him in time.

"Steve." Mary Ann stands between him and Danny with a pleading look on her face. "Don't make a scene."

"Oh, I'm so gonna make a scene." He forces out the words through gritted teeth. "A crime scene."

"Would you stop?" Kono finally manages to get out of her chair to stand next to him, whispering angrily. "Not in front of the kids, okay?"

"May I have a word with you Daniel?" Steve motions towards the house.

"Yeah?" Danny gulps, shooting a worried look at Mary.

"Daddy!" Hana shouts, looking panicked. "You promised!"

"If you kill him, he can't marry Aunt Mare." JD chimes in. "And who's gonna marry her after she kissed another man?"

"He's absolutely right." Danny starts to rant. "See? Your kid is a genius and he has a point. A totally sane and valid point. I wanted to ask her in the near future actually."

"What?" Mary Ann gasps.

"In the house. Now." Steve almost growls, grabbing Danny's arm. "You too, Mary."

"Well, that was unexpected." Kono mutters, plopping down on her chair with a heavy sigh.

Chin just grins at her, satisfied that for once he has nothing to do with the whole insanity. But he makes a mental note to team up with Danny for a while to prevent a bullet in his leg from an 'accidental' friendly fire.

.

.

"Is it just me or it takes longer and longer?" Danny muses, leaning against the corridor's wall at the hospital.

"What did you expect?" Sid huffs. "He's their third kid, the recessive genes are finally come out to play."

"Wouldn't that mean that he's gonna be like, uh, normal or something?" Danny gives her a puzzled look.

"Do I look like someone with a degree in genetics?" Sid frowns, typing on her phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Sexting."

"What? Ew. Why did you say that?" Danny covers his eyes as if that action would block the mental images.

"Because you are insufferable when you are worked up." Sid explains nonchalantly, still not looking up. "It's a miracle that SuperSEAL doesn't shoot you twice a week."

"Because you are champagne and bubble bath, babe." Danny grumbles, offended. "Where the hell is the Suicidals 'R' Us squad anyway?"

"According to Chin they've just emerged from the ocean."

"You were sexting with Chin?"

"Sure." Sid rolls her eyes at him. "Where are the spawns?"

"Grace babysits them."

"Poor girl." She laughs.

The delivery room's door opens and a nurse walks up to them.

"Congratulations." She smiles warmly at Danny. "You had a healthy little boy."

"Wha – I'm not…uh, she's not…he isn't…um…" Danny babbles in shock.

"It's okay," The nurse pats his arm sympathetically. "You can go in to see them."

"Come on, _Daddy_." Sid pulls him away from the woman.

"Why did she think that I'm the…oh, my God." Danny rants with wild hand gestures but he stops short when he sees the baby.

He is blonde.

Ian Joseph McGarrett has sandy blonde hair.

Fuck.

"Holy Hand Grenade!" Sid mutters before she doubles over laughing like crazy. "I can't wait to see McGarrett's face."

"Would you shut up?" Kono mutters bitingly without opening her eyes. "I just had a baby."

"Um, yeah, sorry." Danny mumbles sheepishly, patting Kono's hand awkwardly. "Congratulations."

The room's door bursts open and a dripping wet Steve rushes in with Chin and Holden trailing behind him.

"Where the hell have you been?" Kono glares at her husband.

"Scuba diving." Steve deadpans, leaning down to kiss her briefly. "Gimme."

"You are wet." Kono points out but he doesn't seem to care.

"Hey there, buddy." Steve whispers affectionately with shining eyes and a wavering grin.

"So nobody's gonna say anything about the elephant in the room?" Danny flails his hands around exasperatedly.

"What?" Steve looks at him confused.

"All Tweedledee is trying to say that your son is blonde." Sid explains with a smug smirk. "He's afraid that everyone's gonna think that he is the father."

"It's a shame that we already named one after you, isn't it?" Steve shrugs.

"Are you – do you…?" Danny bristles. "It's not funny."

"Go away." Kono glares at them tiredly. "I want shave ice and my other kids. Don't come back until you collect them. Chop, chop."

After everyone but Steve leave, he sits down carefully on the chair next to her bed, placing Ian gently into her arms.

"Hey," he whispers, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a silly grin.

"Hey," she whispers back. "He's kind of perfect."

"Absolutely." Steve kisses her, trying to pour his feelings into it, hoping she understands the things he just can't say aloud.

Kono sighs, happy and content, closing her eyes and leaning back against the pillows behind her head.

"He's mine, right?"

"Fuck you."

The last thing she hears before falling asleep is Steve's laugh.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing you recognize…

**A/N:** Hey there, thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favs, you guys rock!

Yesterday I was reading _The Velveteen Rabbit_ by Margery Williams to my niece and that's why I wrote the third scene, sorry for the little drama there. Also it got a little out of hand so it's longer than the rest. Hope you don't mind, I just don't want to post it as a separate story.

Tell me what you think!

* * *

><p>It's his day off and Steve's sitting in his well-worn leather armchair in their basement armory, cleaning his gun when Kono appears at the door.<p>

She's wearing the dress Mary Ann gave her for her birthday and wears it only when it's laundry day. It's strapless and ends just above her knee and she always says that it's not her style, but he thinks that even if it has big floral prints and it's kinda, uh, flowy, she still looks very good in it.

"Hey," He looks up at her, stopping his previous activity, resting his gun on his thigh.

"Hey," She wears a determined look, which makes him raise a brow in question. "JD is out with Chin, they went fishing or doing something equally zen and boring. Hana and Ian are finally napping."

"Um, okay." He blinks at her because he has no idea why this is news suddenly but then he notices the baby monitor in her hand and he can't help the silly grin that takes over his features.

Once she passes the doorway, she doesn't stop walking; she just comes over to the armchair and throws a leg over him, hops up so that she's straddling him, stilling his hands when he tries to bring them upwards.

"Need you for a second." She brushes her lips against his teasingly.

"Only a second?" He asks cockily.

"Maybe a couple of seconds," She shrugs nonchalantly, pushing his wrists into the leather and bending down to kiss him thoroughly.

She presses on his hands like she wants them to stay put, so Steve obliges her, even though she's now unzipping his fly and rummaging around in his boxers. Okay, so maybe it's not so much _even though_ as it is _especially because_.

Kono sighs contentedly, having him all arranged to her liking and by this point, pretty much raring to go. She picks up the edge of her dress and kind of tosses it out, so there's nothing between them except, well, _nothing_, apparently, because when she brushes against him, she's all hot and wet and soft. Steve doesn't have a whole lot of time to consider the implications, because she doesn't waste her time in pushing down onto him, groaning in deep satisfaction as she starts to ride him. He's about to speak – he doesn't know what he's going to say exactly, preferably something hot - but she reaches up and brushes a finger against his lips to stop him.

He realizes that his gun is still gripped tight in his hand so he moves it slightly, pressing the rapidly heating metal against her skin a little more firmly and watches her eyes go almost black and the way her mouth falls open with a lustful moan.

It isn't very long before she's panting and shaking above him; he fists his free hand into her dress and comes, thrusting up hard, sweat dripping down over his forehead and threatening to run into his eyes, even though he feels like he's barely done anything.

Kono takes a long moment to stretch, Steve still inside of her, rolling the tension out of her neck. When she's turned this way and that and cracked a surprising number of her vertebrae, she just sort of hops off of him, sliding her feet back into her flip flops and heading for the door, picking up the baby monitor on her way out.

"Thanks for your cooperation," she says as she looks back over her shoulder, husky and rehearsed and super cool, but she's grinning her dimpled, happy grin and walking a little funny, which sort of ruins the effect at the same time that it's incredibly endearing.

"Any time," Steve replies, not missing a beat, and her smile gets even wider.

God, he loves laundry day.

.

.

"I still don't remember any torrid exchange between the two of you in the past year." Sid says, fidgeting in her green bridesmaid dress. "I mean, you always liked him more than any normal human should, but I don't recall any overt PDA's."

"Because of course we'd have held hands and carved our names into the picnic table, right?" Mary Ann rolls her eyes. "Oh, god. I think I'm going to puke."

"You're not going to puke," Kono says firmly, her long fingers grasping her chin. "Grace!"

About a minute later the fourteen-year old girl appears beside them holding a steaming thermos with an herbal tea bag in it.

"Ginger tea," Kono says. "Don't breathe through your nose, just take really big swallows. It helps. And don't even try arguing, because it just isn't worth it."

"Why do you have ginger tea with you?" Sid frowns at Kono disgustedly.

"Believe it or not, this isn't the first wedding I attend as a maid of honor." Kono drawls. "Drink. Now."

Mary Ann grimaces but downs half the mug in one big swallow.

"That's really terrible. However, since I'm not barfing in the garbage can, I guess it works." She mutters.

"D'you think Uncle Danny is puking too?" Lea asks from her seat on the couch, looking up from her comic book. "Does everyone puke at weddings? Because if puking is required, I'll stay single."

"It's not required, it's just an added bonus," Sid smirks at her daughter. "Why don't you go see how Danno's doing? He might just need some of that tea."

"How much longer?" Mary Ann asks, glancing around and wringing her hands nervously.

"Ten minutes. And really, it's not that big of a deal. It's just the closest family. It's not like you've got to stand up in front of two hundred people and then shove cake in one another's face, like Kono and Steve had to. But," Sid says, her voice softening. "It's still a big day. Are you _sure_ about this?"

"I think he's the first person I ever fell in love with." Mary Ann admits.

Lea snorts beside them, making a vague gesture with her hand, something Kono has a sneaking suspicion she'd picked up from Danny.

"Relax, Mom. Have you seen the way she looks at Uncle Danno? I'm going to go and tell the others to get ready, okay?" She comes up, pinching Mary Ann's side. "And you relax, Auntie Mare. I've seen how he looks at you, too. It's all googly-eyed and really gross for people your age. If you two don't get over it soon I'll be drinking ginger tea willingly."

And with that she leaves the room, pulling Grace and Hana after her to leave the adults alone.

"Your daughter is scarily mature for her age." Mary Ann glances at Sid amusedly.

"Well, every family needs an adult." Sid shrugs, pulling at the hem of her dress. "Look, don't worry, Mary. Everything's gonna be fine. It's not like you're gonna arrive at the altar cuffed to a perp."

"No," Mary Ann finally laughs. "That was you."

"Okay then." Kono speaks up, pushing them towards the door. "Let's get you married. And, uh, if you do puke? Lean away from me, because I plan to wear this dress again."

.

.

Steve is fumbling with his belt, his fingers stiff and uncoordinated, slick with blood. He swears as he tries to get the belt off and his fingers slip again. It's only a fucking belt, he's done this hundreds of times, every night in fact. Usually he doesn't have to think about it. Usually it's Kono's fingers there doing it for him.

But not tonight.

Steve's pretty glad Kono's not here. Not now. She'd be yelling something fierce, a habit she started after JD was born. Then came Hana and Ian and her words got more and more angry. Not that he blames her, really.

"You just couldn't do it, could you?" He can almost hear her. "One case where you don't come back beaten and bruised. That's all I ask. Just look at you."

But then she would help with his belt and wrap it around the hole in his leg with gentle, caring fingers. She'd snug it tight and bandage his leg. Then she'd kiss him and they'd make it back home. But she's not here, and he has to do it on his own.

He takes a deep breath and tries to calm the shaking of his hands. That's part of the problem, the fact that his hands won't stop shaking. He lets his head fall back against the tree that's pretty much the only thing keeping him upright. If the tree weren't there, Steve would be on his ass, because his balance is for shit. Most of his weight is balanced precariously on his good leg and all of his weight is leaned against the trunk.

It's dark and quiet in the jungle and he needs to get his damn belt off and around his leg to try and get the bleeding under control.

"Steve," Danny calls uncharacteristically softly. He can barely see him, only his silhouette is visible in the dim moonlight but his voice is concerned. "Do you need help with that?"

"I'm good," Steve answers automatically.

"Steve?" He can't see Danny's frown, but he knows it's there just from the tone of his voice. "We really need to get the hell out of here."

Steve knows he's right. He fumbles again with the belt and this time he succeeds in getting it unfastened.

"How's Chin doing?" Steve asks him because he thinks Danny expects some sort of answer from him.

"He is leading them away from here. But I don't know how long he'll be able to fool them. You have to…"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it the first time, Danny. I need to hurry. You just keep watch and I'll take care of this. Just, fuck…give me a minute or two."

"Whoa, hey, no need to be hostile." He grumbles and Steve just knows he's flailing his hands around. "Like it's my fault you got shot in the middle of the jungle, Rambo."

"Thank you for your concern, now go away." Steve waves him off.

Danny stomps away, muttering to himself and Steve takes a deep breath and another. This isn't the worst wound he'd ever had, and it probably isn't the last. He doesn't know why he is shaking so damn much.

"Shock?" The voice in his head that speaks with Kono's voice says. "You idiot, you need to get the bleeding stopped and then you need to get back home. And don't die."

Steve lets a small smile tug at his lips. Back to home and Kono, it's definitely a good plan.

He finally gets the belt around his leg. As he pulls it tight, the pain spikes through him, sharp and bright and he almost loses it then, he feels the world narrow around him and grows grey at the edges. But then the belt is as snug as he can make it. He bits through his lip trying not to cry out and he frowns at the sharp metallic taste of copper as the blood slid down his throat. He moans, afraid that he's going to throw up and really, really not wanting to.

"McGarrett, can you hear me?" Sid's voice in his ear startles him, he almost face plants as he loses his balance. He has the tree to hold him up though and he breathes through the pain until he can speak. "Steve, please come in."

"Sid?" Steve taps his radio, trying his best to keep his tone even and calm, but he really doesn't think he's fooling her. "What are you doing on this frequency in the middle of the night?"

"I'm at the Naval base." She says, her voice tense. "You missed your check in, asshole. Twice. Took us a while to find your sorry asses. Are you guys done playing Apocalypse Now?

While Steve doesn't normally like being rescued, he'd make an exception just this once.

"Yeah, you might want to have Holden get a team together," He answers her. "We're going to need the back up to get out of here."

"They're already prepared. They're just standing by for your word." Steve is sure she's rolling her eyes.

"Okay, yeah." Steve lets his head fall back against the tree.

"They're on their way," Sid tells him. "Are you okay?"

Steve shakes his head and then realizes she can't see it.

"More or less. I took some fire…"

"What?" Kono's voice is suddenly in his ear. "How bad is it? Steve, how bad is it?"

"It's fine, Kono," He reassures her. "Nothing that a night in the hospital won't fix."

Maybe it's the blood loss that made him say that, but he knows the second the words are out of his mouth that it was the exact wrong thing to say.

"A night in the hospital? You're admitting you need a night in the hospital? Sid, I think his bleeding out." Kono's voice grows a little distant but no less worried.

Steve grins feeling better. Kono's voice does that for him.

"Relax, baby," he says. "It's really okay. Although, if you don't mind, Sid, tell Holden to hurry because I have a date for bedtime."

"You'd better not die," Kono hisses at him. "Because I'm not explaining to your kids why their daddy's not home in time to read them their bedtime story."

Steve thinks it's pretty funny that Kono stresses 'your kids,' like it would give him more incentive to make it home for them and not just if it were Kono waiting for him at home. He'd always make it home to Kono.

The jungle is whirling around him and Steve decides it's a pretty good thing that he doesn't have to go much further.

"I hate to break it to you but I think you're going to be doing the story duties tonight regardless for _our_ kids."

"Don't _our_ kids me," Kono spats at him, "I refuse to let you die and leave me alone with three children. Don't you even dare."

It still kind of astonishes Steve that he is married with three children.

There was a time in his life when he thought it would never happen. He'd tried with Catherine, he really did. But he could never make himself love her the way she needed to be loved.

Then he came back to Hawaii and met Kono Kalakaua. The rest is history.

"Steve? Steve? Come on say something. I'll read Hana and JD their bedtime story, just don't die on me please," it's the pleading tone in Kono's voice that brings Steve back to the present – back to the jungle and blood and the pain.

"What?" He croaks out, feeling decidedly worse.

"Steve, are you alright?" Danny is kneeling next to him, supporting him, checking the belt around his leg.

"Been better," He answers ruefully, not sure if he is talking to Kono or Danny.

And then Steve just leans his head back against the tree trunk behind him, thankful for its sturdy support and imagines his kids tucked in their bed as he reads them one of the books, probably Hana's current favorite – The Velveteen Rabbit. She always cries at the end when the bunny was made real.

Although he'd never admit it to anyone, not even Kono, there are times that he feels like that rabbit and he'd only become real once he came back to Hawaii. Sometimes he looks into the mirror and sees the scars and the glints of grey at his temple, but Kono tells him how hot he is and his children look at him with love and adoration and he knows that the scars and the grey hair doesn't matter to them.

"I would like to meet the nursery magic fairy," He mutters to no one in particular.

"What?" A soft voice says from beside him.

Steve opens his eyes to finds himself in a hospital bed with Kono beside him. He registers the IV in his hand and the bandage around his leg. The pain is there, but it is far distant. Oh, yeah, he is on the really good drugs. He looks over at Kono who's watching him with wide eyes.

"Hey," He croaks out.

"The doctor says you don't have a concussion, but I knew he was wrong," Kono turns and retrieves a cup of water from the bedside table even as she speaks. "Because I know if you're talking about nursery magic fairies you have to be concussed."

Steve takes a drink and then wilts back against the pillows, his strength gone.

"It's from Hana's book," he explains. "The Velveteen Rabbit."

"I knew that," Kono huffs. "I had to read it a couple of times already."

"What happened?" He asks.

"What do you think happened?" Kono's mouth is a solid line.

"Don't know," he answers honestly. "That's why I asked."

"Holden swooped in and rescued your sorry ass as you were bleeding out in the middle of the jungle where they tried to kill you. Again." Kono glares at him. "Seriously, Steve, you can't die, because I don't know what I'd do without you."

Kono goes from furious to sorrowfully earnest so fast that Steve feels dizzy.

"I'd be a terrible parent without you. I'd make our kids hate me. I'd let Chin make them study all the time and I'd let Danny not to let them do any fun stuff. They'd probably grow up and move to the mainland just to spite me, and I just can't…" Kono gulps and looks away, but Steve sees the moisture in her too bright eyes.

"Hey," Steve catches her hand, twining their fingers together. "I'm not going anywhere, you're stuck with me, remember."

"Damn right. Just don't… okay? Don't." Kono makes a quick swipe of her eyes and turns back to Steve. "I don't want to do this without you."

"Ditto," Steve reassures her softly.

He negotiates himself out of the hospital and Kono drives them home, getting him into their bed in no time. They lie side by side, just enjoying their time together. With three kids, it's hard to find time to be alone and at the moment, they are blissfully, completely alone. Not that Steve is in any shape to do anything about it. Still, it is nice just to lie next to each other, holding hands.

Crying from the other room causes them both to start. Steve moans as he jostles his leg.

"It's time for Ian's bottle. You go back to sleep, I'll take care of it," Kono smoothes a hand over Steve's forehead and kisses him softly.

Steve captures her hand, pulling her back for a proper kiss. Kono moans a little as the cries from the other room increase in volume.

"Don't start something you can't finish," She growls in frustration as she pulls away.

"It's just a promise for later. I've got to thank you somehow for nursing me back to health." Steve smirks up at her.

"You've got a lot of thanking to do, then," Kono informs him and jerks her thumb in the direction of their crying son. "I'm just going to…"

"Kono," Steve calls after her, "Bring him back here. Let me feed him."

"But you're injured," Kono begins to protest.

"It's my leg, come on, I want to feed our son."

Kono rolls her eyes, but she nods before she walks out of their room, leaving the door open behind her. From the bed Steve can just spy his daughter's brown curls as she peeks through the open door.

"Hey, Hana," he calls. She doesn't need any more encouragement. She is across the room and in the bed next to him before he could say anything else.

"Are you alright, Daddy?" She blinks up at him with big blue eyes.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," He reassures her then ruins it all by wincing when she tries to crawl into his lap. "Well, maybe I'm not fine, fine, but I will be. Why don't you just lay beside me for now and keep me company?"

She nods solemnly, tucking herself in next to him. Steve is almost asleep again when Kono returns with Ian in her arms and JD by her side. Steve rouses from his drowsing when he hears the fussing of their youngest.

"Are you sure?" Kono asks before handing over the baby and the bottle.

"You okay, Dad?" JD looks at him, his brown eyes suspicious, just like his mother's.

"I'm okay, buddy." Steve looks at him, feeling like shit for making them worry all night.

"Don't go to the jungle without Uncle Holden again." JD says pleadingly.

"Yeah, okay." Steve smiles. "I promise."

Steve has to hand the baby over to Kono for burping. She doesn't know who's asleep first, Steve or their children.

When he wakes again it is dark in the room. One of the windows is open and Steve can see the full moon high in the sky, filling the room with a magical kind of light. Next to him is his daughter. On the other side of the bed Kono sleeps with Ian cuddled in next to her. JD is fast asleep too, curled up on the remaining empty space.

Steve lets out a contented sigh.

He lives in a place that he loves, surrounded by the people who loves him. Just like the Velveteen Rabbit, he feels that he finally knows what it feels like to be really real.


End file.
